Assad Plans to Appear on Syrian Television as Violent Crackdown Escalates - Bloomberg

Assad Plans to Appear on Syrian Television as Violent Crackdown Escalates - Bloomberg

clipped from article:
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will give an interview to Syrian television today to address recent events in the nation and the government’s reforms, the state-run news agency reported as Assad’s security forces continued a violent crackdown on protesters.

Faced with the most serious threat to his family’s 40-year rule, Assad has deployed tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and helicopters to crush the uprising that began in mid-March after revolts ousted the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt and sparked a conflict in Libya.

Security forces fired on protesters yesterday in the Homs governorate and Daraa, Mahmoud Merhi, head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights, said in a phone interview from Damascus, the capital. At least six people died in clashes in Homs, Ammar Qurabi of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria said yesterday by phone.

U.S. President Barack Obama, in a coordinated move with U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, issued a statement on Aug. 18 saying Assad should step down and allow Syrians to chart their own political future.